Shrinking The Kit? A Potential Plan
Currently Using:
Surface Studio 2 as desktop
Surface Pro 8 for long travel with heavy-duty word-processing laptop (or)
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 (don't ask why; I got it stupid cheap)
iPad Air 5 M1 3-day travel
iPad Mini 6 weekend travel, out and about, and couch surfing
iPhone 15 Pro
Realizations:
I've given up on the unicorn single device solution.
For video/audio editing and some content creation, I am highly likely to keep a Windows "desktop" equivalent no matter what
Other than heavy-duty file management and a few PowerPoint features, the iOS apps do 90% of anything I would be doing away from a desktop
I'm doing almost of my digital inking/notetaking on the iPads
Siri meets my needs for automation in the car
I can handle being dual OS, but I really don't want to re-introduce Android back into my ecosystem
Plan?
Ditch the Windows laptop(s)
Get the M4 iPad Pro 11"
Depending on what iOS 18 does, swap the iPhone 15 Pro for 16 Pro Max
Rationale:
The M4 has enough power for almost any need while traveling, including remoting into a Windows machine (or using a virtual service)
I'll always be back to desktop Windows in a day/few days
Worst case is carry 2 not 3 devices, chargers, cords, etc.
Caveat:
FUD - Should I wait to see if WOA or Lunar Lake results in a Surface Go 11-inch device in an iPad chassis with 10(+) hours of battery life?
I'm thinking... 🤔
Curious why you couldn't just leave the MK sitting on the table, or wherever it was switching to slate mode?
I get we all use devices differently, but the MK is my absolute favorite form factor for a 2-in1 style device. I snap my iPad Pro off and on it all the time and in 4 years haven't found any real gripes with it for how I use it. I don't miss the Surface style at all. That form was truly annoying to me, trying to figure out where to put the flimsy feeling keyboard. Plus the probably psychological factor of the weight just absolutely dropping when the MK is gone, vs still keeping all that weight on a Surface.
But also, 100% agree with file management and pinch to zoom. Much aggravation has been had by me from both of those.
And I also would love a Courier/Neo device, but as of now, I want it to be MacOS.